About US

find out more about Ollie and the ranch

Born in the heart of Ireland, Killashandra, County Cavan, Ollie Galligan immigrated to the US in 1996 to pursue a career as a horse trainer. Ollie began his career as a reining and reined cowhorse trainer, apprenticing with NRHA Judge and horse trainer Ben Balow. He later furthered his training education and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area when opportunity presented.
In 2000 Ollie moved to Sonoma County, CA and now trains reining horses and their owners.
In 2007 Ollie married fellow reining enthusiast and Appaloosa breeder, Gillian Baxter and now resides on their beautiful ranch in Petaluma, California with their 2 sons Connor and Benji. Petaluma is located in Sonoma County, the heart of the wine country, and is 45 minutes north of San Francisco with good access to San Francisco International Airport.
Ollie has had many successes in the NRHA, but his proudest moment was when he represented Ireland at the World Equestrian Games in 2010 at the Kentucky Horse Park. He not
only had his fans in Ireland cheering him on, but his wife’s family from Kentucky came to the park to support him as well.
Ollie is President of the largest NRHA affiliate, the West Coast Reining Horse Association (www.wcrha.com) , and balances his time as President with his trainer’s responsibilities. Ollie and his customers compete at many NRHA shows throughout the year, including futurities and derbys. Ollie and his wife also attend the Appaloosa Reining Horse Association Futurity (www.aprha.com) yearly, where they compete with their appaloosa futurity horses and showcase Gillian’s breeding program. Ollie is very successful with buying and selling horses and travels all over the US to find the perfect match for his clients. Whether it is starting a young horse, setting goals for shows, buying and selling, youth or non-pro instruction, Galligan Performance Horses strives to meet the customer's needs.